Drinking water treatment

Part of the Wikiversity Department of Environmental Engineering, School of Engineering and the Engineering and Technology Portal

Water purification systems at Bret Lake, Switzerland.

Content summary

Herein we first explore the subject of drinking water, focusing on the physical characteristics and the natural processes involved. Then we apply these studies to the engineering of devices to treat water so that it becomes wholesome and potable.

Learning Materials

Texts

• General Biology; Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
• Cell Biology; Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
• Biochemistry; Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
• General Chemistry; Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection

Drinking Water Treatment Engineering Lessons

• Characteristics of Drinking water

2. Temperature
3. Density
4. Salinity
5. Turbidity
6. Chemistry

• Drinking water sources

2. Groundwater
   1. Mineral contamination
   2. Anthropogenic contamination
3. Surface-water
4. Desalination

• Drinking water filtration

2. Conventional Filtration
   1. Agglomeration
   2. Sedimentation
   3. Filtration
3. Microfiltration
4. Ultrafiltration
5. Nanofiltration

• Drinking water disinfection

2. Oxidation
3. Chloramination
4. Inactivation

Study guide:

• Physical Properties of Drinking water

1. Wikipedia article:Temperature
2. Wikipedia article:Density
3. Wikipedia article:Salinity
4. Wikipedia article:Chemistry

• Drinking water disinfection

1. Wikipedia article:Disinfection
2. Wikipedia article:Sphagnum (per "Man vs. Wild")
3. Wikipedia article:Moringa oleifera

External Links

• April 20, 2010 – “Perfume Grass” Could Solve Problem of Antibiotics in Water Supply
• March 19, 2007 – Research Leads To Advanced Water Filters In India
• March 15, 2007 – Desalination Plant Coming to Santa Cruz
• Regular Reading – Current Protocols in Microbiology

References

Additional helpful readings include:

• MIT OCW – Water treatment course
• MIT OCW – Environmental health course
• MIT OCW – Systems microbiology course
• MIT OCW – Transport Processes in the Environment course
• MIT OCW – Groundwater Hydrology course
• MIT OCW – Chemicals in the Environment: Fate and Transport course
• MIT OCW – Water Resource Systems course
• MIT OCW – Aquatic Chemistry course
• MIT OCW – Water and Sanitation Infrastructure in Developing Countries course
• MIT OCW – Environmental Microbiology course